Image forming apparatus, image forming method and non-temporary recording medium

ABSTRACT

An image forming apparatus include an operation mode determination section, a display section, an image determination section and a display controller. The operation mode determination section determines a current operation mode among a plurality of operation modes for executing an image forming processing. The display section displays an image. The image determination section determines an image indicating the operation mode determined by the operation mode determination section. The display controller displays an image determined by the image determination section and information for supporting an operation by a user relating to the image forming processing on the display section.

FIELD

Embodiments described herein relate generally to an image formingapparatus, an image forming method and a non-temporary recording medium.

BACKGROUND

An image forming apparatus operates in two operation modes including anoperation mode in which printing is executed with a normal toner and anoperation mode in which the printing is executed with a decolorabletoner decolorized at a prescribed temperature. Such an image formingapparatus operates in a default operation mode if there is no input by auser that instructs the operation mode for the image forming processing.If there is an input by the user, the image forming apparatus operatesin an operation mode responsive to the input. The default operation modemay be changed by the input by the user. Therefore, the user needs toconfirm on the image forming apparatus whether the operation mode is adesired operation mode when instructing execution of the image formingprocessing.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an external view exemplifying the overall constitution of animage forming apparatus according to a first embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of a hardwarecomponent of the image forming apparatus according to the firstembodiment;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of operation modeinformation according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of correspondenceimage information according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of defaultinformation according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of current modeinformation according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating specific functional components ofthe image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of informationdisplayed on a display in an eco-mode according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of informationdisplayed on the display in a normal mode according to the firstembodiment;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart depicting a specific process flow in which theimage forming apparatus displays an image indicating a current mode onthe display according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a specific hardware component of animage forming apparatus according to a second embodiment;

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of number of timesinformation according to the second embodiment;

FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating specific functional componentsof the image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment;

FIG. 14 is a flowchart depicting the flow of a specific processing inwhich the image forming apparatus displays an image indicating a currentmode on the display 101 according to the second embodiment;

FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating a specific example of thefunctional components of an image forming apparatus according to amodification;

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of thecorrespondence image information if a correspondence image indicates acurrent mode by an icon according to the first embodiment; and

FIG. 17 is a flowchart depicting the flow of a specific processing inwhich the image forming apparatus displays an icon indicating thecurrent mode on the display according to the first embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In accordance with an embodiment, an image forming apparatus comprisesan operation mode determination section, a display section, an imagedetermination section and a display controller. The operation modedetermination section determines a current operation mode among aplurality of operation modes for executing an image forming processing.The display section displays an image. The image determination sectiondetermines an image indicating the operation mode determined by theoperation mode determination section. The display controller displaysthe image determined by the image determination section and informationfor supporting an operation by a user relating to the image formingprocessing on the display section.

First Embodiment

FIG. 1 is an external view exemplifying the overall constitution of animage forming apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment. The imageforming apparatus 1 has a plurality of operation modes and executesimage forming processing in an operation mode in response to an input bya user. The operation mode is a series of operations executed by theimage forming apparatus 1 if a command for instructing output of aprescribed result is input to the image forming apparatus 1. Further,the operation mode is a series of operations predetermined in the imageforming apparatus 1. The output of the prescribed result refers to anoutput of a result of an image forming processing by the image formingapparatus 1, such as copying an image or printing out an image.

For the sake of simplicity, the operation mode of the image formingapparatus 1 will be described as having two modes, i.e., a normal modeand an eco-mode.

The normal mode indicates an operation mode in which the image formingapparatus 1 forms an image with a normal toner.

The eco-mode indicates an operation mode in which the image formingapparatus 1 forms an image with a decolorable toner.

The image forming apparatus 1 includes a display 101, a control panel102, an image forming section 103, a sheet housing section 104 and animage reading section 200. The image forming section 103 of the imageforming apparatus 1 may be a device for fixing a toner image or aninkjet type device.

The image forming apparatus 1 reads an image shown on a sheet andgenerates digital data to generate an image file. The sheet is, forexample, an original document, such as a paper on which characters orimages are described. The sheet may be a variable object, as long as itcan be read by the image forming apparatus 1.

The display 101 is an image display device such as a liquid crystaldisplay, an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display, or the like. Thedisplay 101 displays various information relating to the image formingapparatus 1 and information for supporting an operation of a userrelating to an image forming processing. The information for supportingthe operation of the user is, for example, icons associated with variousfunctions of the image forming apparatus 1.

The control panel 102 has a plurality of buttons. The control panel 102receives an input operation from a user. The control panel 102 outputs asignal corresponding to the input operation from the user to acontroller of the image forming apparatus 1. The display 101 and thecontrol panel 102 may be integrally provided as a touch panel.

The image forming section 103 forms a visible image on the sheet basedon image information generated by the image reading section 200 or imageinformation received via a communication path. For example, the imageforming section 103 may form an image by the following processing steps.First, the image forming section 103 forms an electrostatic latent imageon a photoconductive drum based on the image information. Then, imageforming section 103 forms a visible image by attaching a developer tothe electrostatic latent image. A specific example of the developer istoner. After that, a transfer section of the image forming section 103transfers the visible image onto the sheet. The sheet on which the imageis formed may be a sheet stored in the sheet housing section 104 or maybe a manually-fed sheet.

The sheet housing section 104 accommodates the sheet used for imageformation in the image forming section 103.

The sheet on which the image is formed is determined according to theuser input to the control panel 102. It is determined whether the imageforming apparatus 1 forms an image on a normal sheet or a reusable sheetaccording to user input to the control panel 102.

The image reading section 200 reads the image information, for example,using a reading object to process intensity of light. The image readingsection 200 records the read image information. The recorded imageinformation may be transmitted to another information processingapparatus via a network. The recorded image information may be used toform an image on the sheet by the image forming section 103.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of the hardwarecomponent of the image forming apparatus 1 according to the firstembodiment. The image forming apparatus 1 includes a CPU (CentralProcessing Unit) 106, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 107, an auxiliarystorage device 108, the display 101, the control panel 102, the imageforming section 103 and a heating section 105.

The heating section 105 heats the sheet. The heating section 105executes a fixing processing or a decoloring processing in conjunctionwith the image forming section 103. The fixing processing refers to aprocess of heating and pressurizing the sheet onto which the visibleimage is transferred by the image forming section 103 to fix thetransferred visible image on the sheet. The decoloring processing refersto a process of heating a sheet on which an image is formed with thedecolorable toner decolorized at a decoloring temperature to adecoloring temperature to decolorize the image formed on the sheet.

The auxiliary storage device 108 is a storage device such as a magnetichard disk device or a semiconductor storage device. The auxiliarystorage device 108 stores various information. For example, variouskinds of information include operation mode information, correspondenceimage information, default information, and current mode information.The operation mode information indicates an operation mode of the imageforming apparatus 1. The correspondence image information indicates adisplay form of an image (hereinafter, referred to as a “correspondenceimage”) associated with the operation mode. The correspondence image isdisplayed on the display 101 and indicates the operation mode. Thecorrespondence image may be, for example, an image (hereinafter,referred to as a “background image”) which is a background of anotherimage displayed on the display 101 and indicating the operation mode bythe display form of the background. The correspondence image may be, forexample, icons associated with various functions of the image formingapparatus 1, and may be an image indicating the operation mode by thedisplay form of the icon. The correspondence image may be an imageindicating the operation mode by information other than a text, forexample. If the icon displayed on the display 101 is selected by theuser, the image forming apparatus 1 executes processing to execute thefunction associated with the selected icon. For example, if an iconassociated with a copy function is selected by the user, the imageforming apparatus 1 reads the image which is the reading object with theimage reading section 200 and copies the read image.

The default information indicates an operation mode when the imageforming apparatus 1 executes an image processing in a default state. Thedefault state refers to a state of the image forming apparatus 1 inwhich there is no input to the image forming apparatus 1 by the user ina predetermined prescribed period (hereinafter, referred to as a“default time”) and there is no input by the user for instructing theoperation mode even after that period. The predetermined prescribedperiod is, for example, 3 minutes.

The current mode information indicates an operation mode (hereinafter,referred to as a “current mode”) set at the present time point for theimage forming apparatus 1. The current mode refers to any one operationmode of a plurality of the operation modes of the image formingapparatus 1. The current mode is selected according to the input by theuser among the plurality of the operation modes. The current mode is setin the image forming apparatus 1 when the user operates the imageforming apparatus 1. For example, if the user inputs a mode instructioninput at the time of operating the image forming apparatus 1, thecurrent mode when the user inputs the mode instruction input is anoperation mode instructed by the mode instruction input. The modeinstruction input is an input to the image forming apparatus 1 forinstructing the operation mode for the image forming apparatus 1. Forexample, when the user newly performs an input after a time greater thanor equal to a predetermined default time elapses from the previousinput, then, if the newly-performed input at that time is an input otherthan the mode instruction input, the current mode is the default mode.For example, when the user newly performs an input within thepredetermined default time from the previous input, then, if thenewly-performed input at that time is an input other than the modeinstruction input, the current mode is the operation mode at the time ofthe previous input. For example, in a case in which the user performsthe input newly within the default time since the previous input, if theinput newly performed at that time is the mode instruction input, thecurrent mode is the operation mode instructed by the mode instructioninput.

For the sake of simplicity, a case in which the correspondence image isthe background image of an image displayed on the display 101 isdescribed below.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of the operationmode information according to the first embodiment. For example, theoperation mode information is stored in the auxiliary storage device 108as an operation mode table 910 shown in FIG. 3. The operation mode table910 has records for individual mode names. Each record has values of amode name and an operation content. The mode name indicates a name ofeach operation mode. The operation content indicates a content of theoperation performed by the image forming apparatus 1 in the operationmode identified by the mode name. For example, a record 911 shows thatan image is formed with the decolorable toner in the eco-mode.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of thecorrespondence image information according to the first embodiment. Forexample, the correspondence image information is stored in the auxiliarystorage device 108 as a correspondence image information table 920 shownin FIG. 4. The correspondence image information table 920 has a recordfor each mode name. Each record has values of a mode name, a colorscheme information and pattern information. The mode name is the same asthat in FIG. 3. The color scheme information indicates a backgroundcolor of the image associated with the operation mode identified by themode name. The pattern information indicates a pattern of the backgroundof the image associated with the operation mode identified by the modename. For example, a record 921 indicates that the background color ofthe image indicating the normal mode is blue and the pattern thereof isa pattern A. The pattern may be any pattern, for example, it may achecked pattern, a honeycomb pattern, or a plain pattern.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of the defaultinformation according to the first embodiment. For example, the defaultinformation is stored in the auxiliary storage device 108 as a defaultinformation table 930 shown in FIG. 5. The default information table 930has a record for each function name. Each record has values of afunction name and a default mode name. The function name indicates aname of each function of the image forming apparatus 1. For example, thevarious functions include a copy function, a printer function, a FAXfunction, and the like. The default mode name indicates a name of theoperation mode associated with each function, and indicates theoperation mode (hereinafter, referred to as “default mode”) of the imageforming apparatus 1 in the image forming apparatus 1 in the defaultstate. For example, the record 931 indicates that the default mode ofthe copy function is the normal mode.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of the current modeinformation according to the first embodiment. For example, the currentmode information is stored in the auxiliary storage device 108 as acurrent mode information table 940 shown in FIG. 6. The current modeinformation table 940 has a record for each function name. Each recordhas values of a function name and a current mode name. The function nameis the same as that in FIG. 5. The current mode name indicates thecurrent mode associated with the function identified by the functionname. For example, a record 941 indicates that the current mode of afunction of which the function name is the copy is the eco-mode.

The current mode identified by the current mode name is changed by theinput by the user. The current mode identified by the current mode namereturns to the default mode if there is no input by the user during thedefault time.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating specific functional components ofthe image forming apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment. The CPU106 reads a program stored in the auxiliary storage device 108 into theRAM 107 and executes it, and in this way, the image forming apparatus 1functions as a device including an operation mode determination section109, an image determination section 110 and a display controller 111.

Based on the mode instruction input and the time, the operation modedetermination section 109 determines the current mode of a desiredfunction selected by the input by the user among various functions ofthe image forming apparatus 1. The mode instruction input is an input tothe image forming apparatus 1 which instructs the operation mode for theimage forming apparatus 1. The input by the user for selecting a desiredfunction is referred to as a function selection input below. For thesake of simplicity, the function selected by the function selectioninput is the copy function, and the operation of the operation modedetermination section 109 is described by using a case in which thecurrent mode determined by the operation mode determination section 109is the current mode of the copy function as a specific example.

The operation mode determination section 109 updates the value of thecurrent mode name in the current mode information table 940 according tothe value indicating the determined current mode. Specifically, if themode instruction input is input to the image forming apparatus 1, theoperation mode determination section 109 sets the operation modeinstructed by the mode instruction input as the current mode. Theoperation mode determination section 109 updates the value of thecurrent mode name in the current mode information table 940 according tothe value indicating the determined operation mode. The operation modedetermination section 109 sets the default mode as the current mode ifthere is no new input even after the default time elapses since theprevious input to the image forming apparatus 1. The operation modedetermination section 109 does not update the current mode if no modeinstruction input is newly made within the default time afterdetermining the current mode based on the mode instruction input.

For the sake of simplicity, the image forming apparatus 1 according tothe first embodiment is described below by assuming that it has only thecopy function.

The image determination section 110 determines a correspondence imagebased on the current mode information stored in the auxiliary storagedevice 108, the correspondence image information stored in the auxiliarystorage device 108, and the function selection input.

The display controller 111 controls display of the image determined bythe image determination section 110 on the display 101.

All or a part of the functions of the image forming apparatus 1 arerealized by using hardware such as an ASIC (Application SpecificIntegrated Circuit), a PLD (Programmable Logic Device), and a FPGA(Field Programmable Gate Array). The program may be recorded in acomputer-readable recording medium. The computer-readable recordingmedium is, for example, a portable medium such as a flexible disk, amagneto-optical disk, a ROM, a CD-ROM or the like, or a storage devicesuch as a hard disk built in a computer system. The program may betransmitted via an electric communication line.

Subsequently, with reference to FIG. 8 and FIG. 9, an example in whichthe display on the display 101 differs depending on the operation modein the image forming apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment isdescribed.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of the display onthe display 101 in the eco-mode according to the first embodiment. In ascreen on which the icon and the text are displayed, an image displayedin an area where there is no icon and text is the background image. Thepattern of the background image in FIG. 8 is plain. The color of thebackground image in FIG. 8 is, for example, green.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of the display onthe display 101 in the normal mode according to the first embodiment.The image in FIG. 9 has a plain pattern. The color of the backgroundimage in FIG. 9 is different from the background image in the eco-mode,and, for example, blue.

Thus, in the image forming apparatus 1 according to the firstembodiment, the background images displayed on the display 101 aredifferent due to the difference in the current modes. FIG. 8 and FIG. 9show a case in which the difference in the operation modes is indicatedonly by the color difference of the background images as a specificexample, but the difference in the operation modes is not necessarilyindicated only by the color difference. For example, the difference inthe operation modes may be indicated by a difference in the patterns ofthe background images.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart depicting the flow of a processing in which theimage forming apparatus 1 displays an image indicating the current modeon the display 101 according to the first embodiment.

If there is an input to the image forming apparatus 1 by the user, theimage determination section 110 refers to the current mode informationtable 940 recorded in the auxiliary storage device 108. The imagedetermination section 110 selects a record in which the functionidentified by the function name in the table which is referred to is thecopy function. The image determination section 110 acquires the value ofthe current mode name of the selected record. The image determinationsection 110 determines whether or not the current mode indicated by theacquired value is the eco-mode (ACT 101). If the operation modeidentified by the current mode name is the eco-mode (Yes in ACT 101),the image determination section 110 refers to the correspondence imageinformation table 920 stored in the auxiliary storage device 108. Theimage determination section 110 selects a record in which the value ofthe mode name is the eco-mode among the records in the correspondenceimage information table 920. The image determination section 110determines the color indicated by the color scheme information of theselected record as the color of the background image of the imagedisplayed on the display 101 (ACT 102). Next, the image determinationsection 110 determines the pattern indicated by the pattern informationof the selected record as the pattern of the background image of theimage displayed on the display 101 (ACT 103). The display controller 111displays an image whose color and pattern of the background image arethe color and pattern determined by the image determination section 110on the display 101 (ACT 106).

On the other hand, if the operation mode identified by the current modename is the normal mode (No in ACT 101), the image determination section110 refers to the correspondence image information table 920 stored inthe auxiliary storage device 108. The image determination section 110selects a record in which the value of the mode name indicates thenormal mode among the records in the correspondence image informationtable 920. The image determination section 110 determines the colorindicated by the color scheme information of the selected record as thebackground color of the image displayed on the display 101 (ACT 104).Next, the image determination section 110 determines the patternindicated by the pattern information of the selected record as thepattern of the background image of the image displayed on the display101 (ACT 105). The display controller 111 displays an image of which thecolor and pattern of the background image are the color and patterndetermined by the image determination section 110 on the display 101(ACT 106).

Thus, the image forming apparatus 1 can display the background imagecorresponding to the current mode on the display 101 by executing theprocessing shown in the flowchart in FIG. 10.

If the image forming apparatus 1 has a function other than the copyfunction, the default record information may be set in the image formingapparatus 1. The default record information indicates a record selectedby the operation mode determination section 109 when the user inputs aninput other than the function selection input to the image formingapparatus 1. The record selected by the operation mode determinationsection 109 is a prescribed record among the plurality of records in thecurrent mode information table 940. If the function selection input isinput, the operation mode determination section 109 selects a record inwhich the function identified by the function name in the current modeinformation table 940 is a function indicated by the function selectioninput.

The image forming apparatus 1 configured in this manner displays animage indicating the operation mode of the image forming apparatus 1 asthe background image. Therefore, the user can cause the image formingapparatus 1 to form an image according to the desired operation modewithout performing an operation of confirming whether or not theoperation mode is the desired operation mode.

Second Embodiment

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a specific hardware component of animage forming apparatus 1 a according to the second embodiment. Theimage forming apparatus 1 a differs from the image forming apparatus 1in that it includes an auxiliary storage device 108 a instead of theauxiliary storage device 108. Below, for the components having the samefunctions as those of the image forming apparatus 1, the same referencenumerals as those in FIG. 2 and FIG. 7 are denoted, and the descriptionthereof is omitted. The image forming apparatus 1 a has variousfunctions which are the same as the image forming apparatus 1. Forexample, various functions include the copy function, the printerfunction, the FAX function, and the like. Below, for the sake ofsimplicity, the image forming apparatus 1 a according to the secondembodiment is described by assuming that it has only the copy function.

The auxiliary storage device 108 a is configured by using a storagedevice such as a magnetic hard disk device or a semiconductor storagedevice. The auxiliary storage device 108 a stores number of timesinformation in addition to the information such as the operation modeinformation, the correspondence image information, the defaultinformation, and the current mode information stored in the auxiliarystorage device 108. The number of times information indicates the numberof times the image forming processing is executed by the image formingapparatus 1 a for each operation mode.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of the number oftimes information according to the second embodiment. The number oftimes information is, for example, stored in the auxiliary storagedevice 108 a as a number of times information table 950 shown in FIG.12. The number of times information table 950 has one record havingvalues of the number of times of the normal mode, the number of times ofthe eco-mode and the total number of times. The number of times of thenormal mode indicates a cumulative number of times the image formingapparatus 1 a carries out the image formation when the current mode namein the current mode information table 940 is the normal mode. The numberof times of the eco-mode indicates a cumulative number of times theimage forming apparatus 1 a executes the image processing when thecurrent mode name stored in the current mode information table 940 isthe eco-mode. The total number of times indicates a cumulative number oftimes the image forming apparatus la executes the image formation.

For example, FIG. 12 indicates that the number of times the imageformation is carried out in the normal mode is 10 times and the numberof times the image formation is executed in the eco-mode is 20 times.FIG. 12 indicates that the total number of times the image formation isexecuted is 30 times.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating specific functional componentsof the image forming apparatus 1 a according to the second embodiment.The image forming apparatus 1 a differs from the image forming apparatus1 a in that it includes a utilization calculation section 112 and animage determination section 110 a in place of the image determinationsection 110.

The utilization calculation section 112 calculates the utilization ofthe eco-mode based on the number of times information stored by theauxiliary storage device 108 a. The utilization of the eco-mode may be aratio to the normal mode or a ratio to the total number of times theimage formation is executed by the image forming apparatus 1 a. For thesake of simplicity, the utilization of the eco-mode is described belowby assuming that it is utilization to the normal mode.

The image determination section 110 a determines a correspondence imageindicating the utilization of the eco-mode based on a calculation resultof the utilization calculation section 112, the current mode informationstored in the auxiliary storage device 108 a, the correspondence imageinformation stored in the auxiliary storage device 108 a, and thefunction selection input.

The correspondence image indicating the utilization of the eco-mode maybe any image as long as it indicates the utilization of the eco-mode.The correspondence image indicating the utilization of the eco-mode maybe, for example, an image indicating the utilization with the density ofthe background color thereof.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart depicting a specific flow of a processing inwhich the image forming apparatus 1 a displays an image indicating thecurrent mode on the display 101 according to the second embodiment.

If there is an input to the image forming apparatus la by the user, theimage determination section 110 a refers to the current mode informationtable 940 recorded in the auxiliary storage device 108 a. The imagedetermination section 110 a selects a record of which the functionidentified by the function name of the table which is referred to is thecopy function. The image determination section 110 a acquires the valueof the current mode name of the selected record. The image determinationsection 110 a determines whether or not the current mode indicated bythe acquired value is the eco-mode (ACT 201). If the operation modeidentified by the current mode name is the eco-mode (Yes in ACT 201),the image determination section 110 a refers to the number of timesinformation table 950 stored in the auxiliary storage device 108 a toacquire the number of times indicated by the number of times of thenormal mode and the number of times indicated by the number of times ofthe eco-mode (ACT 202). The image determination section 110 a calculatesthe utilization of the eco-mode based on the acquired number of timesindicated by the number of times of the normal mode and the number oftimes indicated by the number of times of the eco-mode (ACT 203). Theimage determination section 110 a determines the density of thebackground color of the image displayed on the display 101 according tothe calculated utilization of the eco-mode (ACT 204). The density of thecolor may be variable as long as the density is based on theutilization, for example, it maybe a density proportional to theutilization. For example, the density of the color may be a densitydetermined based on information obtained by associating the utilizationwith the density which is stored in the auxiliary storage device 108 ain advance. The image determination section 110 a selects a record inwhich the value of the mode name indicates the normal mode among therecords in the correspondence image information table 920. The imagedetermination section 110 a determines the color indicated by the colorscheme information of the selected record as the background color of theimage displayed on the display 101. The image determination section 110a determines the pattern indicated by the pattern information of theselected record as the pattern of the background of the image displayedon the display 101 (ACT 205). The display controller 111 displays animage with the pattern and the color having the density determined bythe image determination section 110 a as the background thereof on thedisplay 101 (ACT 207).

On the other hand, if the operation mode indicated by the current modename is the normal mode (No in ACT 201), the image determination section110 a refers to the correspondence image information table 920 stored inthe auxiliary storage device 108 a. The image determination section 110a selects a record in which a value of the mode name indicates thenormal mode among the records of the correspondence image informationtable 920. The image determination section 110 a determines the colorindicated by the color scheme information of the selected record as thebackground color of the image displayed on the display 101. Next, theimage determination section 110 a determines the pattern indicated bythe pattern information of the selected record as the pattern of thebackground of the image displayed on the display 101 (ACT 206). Thedisplay controller 111 displays an image with the pattern and the colorhaving the density determined by the image determination section 110 aas the background thereof on the display 101 (ACT 207).

The image forming apparatus 1 a constituted in this way displays animage indicating the utilization of the operation mode of the imageforming apparatus 1 a with the color density of the background image.Therefore, the user can confirm the utilization of the eco-mode of theimage forming apparatus 1 a without performing an operation ofconfirming the utilization of the eco-mode.

The image forming apparatus 1 a does not necessarily have to representonly the utilization of the eco-mode with the density of the backgroundof the image but may represent the utilization of the normal mode. Ifthe image forming apparatus 1 a further has an operation mode inaddition to the eco-mode and the normal mode, for example, the imageforming apparatus 1 a may represent the utilization of that operationmode.

(Modification)

Below, a modification common to the image forming apparatus 1 accordingto the first embodiment and the image forming apparatus 1 a according tothe second embodiment is shown. For the sake of simplicity, however, thedescription is made as a modification of the image forming apparatus 1according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating a specific example of thefunctional components of an image forming apparatus 1 b according to themodification. The image forming apparatus 1 b is different from theimage forming apparatus 1 in that it includes a light source 115. Below,the same reference numerals as in FIG. 2 are denoted to the componentshaving the same function as those of the image forming apparatus 1, andthe description thereof is omitted.

The light source 115 represents an operation mode of the image formingapparatus 1 b. The light source 115 represents the operation mode of theimage forming apparatus 1 b with lighting, blinking, a color of light,and the like. The operation mode of the image forming apparatus 1 b isan operation mode indicated by the current mode name in the current modeinformation table 940 stored in the auxiliary storage device 108. Thelight source 115 may be, for example, an LED (Light Emitting Diode) lampor a light bulb.

For the sake of simplicity, it is assumed that the correspondence imageindicates the operation mode with the background of the image displayedon the display 101. In the following, it is assumed that thecorrespondence image indicates the operation mode with an icon displayedon the display 101.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of thecorrespondence image information according to the first embodiment in acase in which the correspondence image indicates the current mode withan icon displayed on the display 101. For example, the correspondenceimage information is stored in the auxiliary storage device 108 as acorrespondence image information table 920 a shown in FIG. 16. Thecorrespondence image information table 920 a has a record for each modename. Each record has values of the mode name, icon information and iconlocation information. The mode name is the same as that in FIG. 3. Theicon information indicates an icon associated with the operation modeidentified by the mode name. The icon location information indicates alocation on a display screen of the display 101 of the icon associatedwith the operation mode identified by the mode name. For example, in arecord 921 a, the mode name is the normal mode, the icon indicating thenormal mode is an icon A, and the location of the icon is the upperright on the display screen of the display 101.

The icon may be any icon as long as it has a display form capable ofdistinguishing the current mode. For example, the icon may havedifferent icon shape or color scheme depending on the current mode. Thearrangement of the icon may be different depending on the current mode.The arrangement is the location on the display screen of the display 101of the icon. The density of the color of the icon may change dependingon the current mode. The icon may be a blinking icon and may blink inresponse to the current mode. The icon may rotate on the display screenof the display 101 at an angular velocity in response to the currentmode. The icon may be reversed on the display screen of the display 101in response to the current mode. The icon may be an icon of which thecolor scheme changes according to the time and having the color schemechanging with time depending on the prescribed current mode. The iconmay be an icon of which the shape changes according to time and having ashape changing with time depending on the current mode. The icon may bean icon of which the color density changes according to time and havingthe color density changing with time depending on the current mode. Theicon may be an icon having a size corresponding to the current mode. Theicon may be an icon of which a size changes according to time and havinga size changing with time depending on the current mode. An aspect ratioof the icon may be an aspect ratio in response to the utilization of thecurrent mode. The icon may be an icon of which the aspect ratio changesaccording to the time and having an aspect ratio changing with timedepending on the utilization of the current mode.

In the image forming apparatus 1 a according to the second embodiment,the icon may have a display form in response to the utilization of theprescribed mode in addition to the display form in response to thecurrent mode. For example, the icon may have different icon shape orcolor scheme depending on the utilization of the prescribed mode. Thearrangement of the icon may be different depending on the utilization ofthe prescribed mode. The density of the color of the icon may changedepending on the utilization of the prescribed mode. The icon may be ablinking icon which blinks in response to the utilization of theprescribed mode. The icon may rotate on the display screen of thedisplay 101 at an angular velocity in response to the utilization of theprescribed mode. The icon may be reversed on the display screen of thedisplay 101 in response to the utilization of the prescribed mode. Theicon may be an icon of which the color scheme changes according to thetime and having the color scheme changing with time depending on theutilization of the prescribed mode. The icon may be an icon of which theshape changes according to time and having a shape changing with timedepending on the utilization of the prescribed mode. The icon may be anicon of which the color density changes according to time and having thecolor density changing with time depending on the utilization of theprescribed mode. The icon may be an icon having a size in response tothe utilization of the prescribed mode. The icon may be an icon of whicha size changes according to time and having a size changing with timedepending on the utilization of the prescribed mode. An aspect ratio ofthe icon may be an aspect ratio in response to the utilization of theprescribed mode. The icon may be an icon of which the aspect ratiochanges according to the time and having an aspect ratio changing withtime depending on the utilization of the prescribed mode.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart depicting the specific flow of a processing inwhich the image forming apparatus 1 displays an icon indicating thecurrent mode on the display 101 according to the first embodiment.Below, for the sake of simplicity, the image forming apparatus 1according to the first embodiment is described by assuming that it hasonly the copy function.

If there is an input to the image forming apparatus 1 by the user, theimage determination section 110 refers to the current mode informationtable 940 recorded in the auxiliary storage device 108. The imagedetermination section 110 selects a record in which the functionidentified by the function name in the table which is referred to is thecopy function. The image determination section 110 acquires the value ofthe current mode name of the selected record. The image determinationsection 110 determines whether or not the current mode indicated by theacquired value is the eco-mode (ACT 301). If the operation modeindicated by the current mode name is the eco-mode (Yes in ACT 301), theimage determination section 110 refers to the correspondence imageinformation table 920 a stored in the auxiliary storage device 108. Theimage determination section 110 selects a record having a value of themode name indicating the eco-mode out among the records in thecorrespondence image information table 920 a. The image determinationsection 110 determines the icon indicated by the icon information of theselected record as the icon displayed on the display 101 (ACT 302).Next, the image determination section 110 determines the locationindicated by the icon location information of the selected record as thelocation on the display screen of the display 101 of the icon (ACT 303).The display controller 111 displays the icon determined by the imagedetermination section 110 at the location on the display screen of thedisplay 101 determined by the image determination section 110 (ACT 304).

On the other hand, if the operation mode identified by the current modename is the normal mode (No in ACT 301), the image determination section110 refers to the correspondence image information table 920 a stored inthe auxiliary storage device 108. The image determination section 110selects a record having a value of the mode name indicating the normalmode among the records in the correspondence image information table 920a. The image determination section 110 determines the icon indicated bythe icon information of the selected record as an icon displayed on thedisplay 101 (ACT 305). Next, the image determination section 110determines the location indicated by the icon location information ofthe selected record as the location on the display screen of the display101 of the icon (ACT 306). The display controller 111 displays the icondetermined by the image determination section 110 at the location on thedisplay screen of the display 101 determined by the image determinationsection 110 (ACT 304).

The image forming apparatus 1 configured in this way displays an iconindicating the operation mode of the image forming apparatus 1.Therefore, the user can cause the image forming apparatus 1 to form animage in the desired operation mode without performing an operation ofconfirming whether or not the operation mode is the desired operationmode.

The color of the correspondence image or the color scheme of the iconmay be a color scheme based on color universal design.

The display 101 is an example of a display section.

While certain embodiments have been described these embodiments havebeen presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit thescope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel embodiments described hereinmay be embodied in a variety of other forms: furthermore variousomissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the embodimentsdescribed herein may be made without departing from the spirit of theinventions. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intendedto cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope andspirit of the invention.

1-20. (canceled)
 21. An image forming apparatus, comprising: an imageforming section configured to operate in an eco mode, in which an imageis formed with decoloring toner, or in a normal mode, in which an imageis formed with ordinary toner that is not a decoloring toner; a displayconfigured to display an icon image associated with a function of theimage forming apparatus and a background image, the function using theimage forming section; a storage configured to store a settinginformation for designating either the eco mode or the normal mode, afirst image information associated with the eco mode and a second imageinformation associated with the normal mode, the first image informationis image information of the icon image or the background image, and thesecond image information is image information of the icon image orbackground image different from the first image information; and amicroprocessor configured to determine the icon image or the backgroundimage based on the first image information when the setting informationis the eco mode, and to determine the icon image or the background imagebased on the second image information when the setting information isthe normal mode, to display the determined icon image or backgroundimage on the display.
 22. The image forming apparatus of claim 21,wherein the function includes a function using the image forming sectionand a function not using the image forming section, when the settinginformation is the eco mode, wherein the microprocessor is configured todetermine the icon image based on the first image information only forthe icon image corresponding to the function using the image formingsection.
 23. The image forming apparatus of claim 21, wherein themicroprocessor is configured to determine a color scheme or pattern ofthe background image.
 24. The image forming apparatus of claim 21,wherein the microprocessor is configured to determine a density of acolor of the background image.
 25. The image forming apparatus of claim21, wherein the microprocessor is configured to determine a color schemeor shape of the icon image.
 26. The image forming apparatus of claim 21,wherein the microprocessor is configured to determine a display positionof the icon image.
 27. An image forming method of an image formingapparatus, comprising: operating in an eco mode, in which an image isformed with decoloring toner, or in a normal mode, in which an image isformed with ordinary toner that is not a decoloring toner; displaying anicon image, associated with a function of an image forming section ofthe image forming apparatus, and a background image, the function usingthe image forming section; providing a storage storing a settinginformation for designating either the eco mode or the normal mode, afirst image information associated with the eco mode and a second imageinformation associated with the normal mode, the first image informationis image information of the icon image or the background image, and thesecond image information is image information of the icon image orbackground image different from the first image information; anddetermining the icon image or the background image based on the firstimage information when the setting information is the eco mode, anddetermining the icon image or the background image based on the secondimage information when the setting information is the normal mode, todisplay the determined icon image or background image.
 28. The method ofclaim 27, wherein the function includes a function using the imageforming section and a function not using the image forming section, whenthe setting information is the eco mode, and further comprisingdetermining the icon image based on the first image information only forthe icon image corresponding to the function using the image formingsection.
 29. The method of claim 27, further comprising determining acolor scheme or pattern of the background image.
 30. The method of claim27, further comprising determining a density of a color of thebackground image.
 31. The method of claim 27, further comprisingdetermining a color scheme or shape of the icon image.
 32. The method ofclaim 27, further comprising determining a display position of the iconimage.